Final answer:
Lenses in microscopes enlarge images of small objects, while telescopes use lenses to focus and magnify distant celestial bodies. They work based on the law of refraction, with additional eyepieces adjusting the focus and magnification.
Step-by-step explanation:
Lenses in devices like microscopes and telescopes manipulate light using the law of refraction to form images. In a microscope, lenses create magnified images of small objects, allowing for a clear view regardless of the eye's limitations in focusing on very close objects. For telescopes, lenses gather and focus light from distant objects, often using an eyepiece to further magnify and focus the image for viewing or detection.
An everyday example of a lens at work is the human eye, where the lens focuses light onto the retina. Similarly, artificial lenses in optical instruments focus light to form larger or smaller images than the object, which is essential in scientific and astronomical observation. The combination of lenses in such instruments can dramatically change the size and orientation of the image, making structures within stars, planets, and galaxies visible and clear.